The Royal Shakespeare Company and Told by an Idiot present The Three Musketeers

Told by an Idiot and the Royal Shakespeare Company have today announced a World Premiere production of The Three Musketeers for the festive season 2026. Known for creating the unexpected for the last three decades, Told by an Idiot will bring their trademark anarchic physicality to this wild new adaptation of Alexandre Dumas’s thrilling classic novel for all ages. In the Royal Shakespeare Theatre at Stratford-Upon-Avon, the production runs from Saturday 28 November – Saturday 9 January with a Press Night on 8 December 2026. Tickets will go on sale on Wednesday 18 March.

A theatrical feast full of joy and a raging zest for life, the new production is adapted and directed by Told by an Idiot co-founder and Artistic Director, Paul Hunter. It will bring together an international company of performers, captivating live music and a charmingly unreliable Spanish narrator.

It is 1625, or twenty-five past four.’

When the innocent D’Artagnan sets off to Paris to become a Musketeer, a life of danger, romance and anarchy lies ahead.  

Young King Louis XIII’s loose grip on power and his marriage is a delicious opportunity for the dastardly Cardinal Richelieu and mysterious Milady. 

Landing in the centre of this cut-throat world, D’Artagnan races through the streets and the battlefields on the trail of his abducted sweetheart Constance, fighting for honour and dodging the target on his back.  

But whenever strife is near, his new pals appear: The Three Musketeers. 

‘One for all, and all for one!’  

Paul Hunter, Director and co-founder and Artistic Director of Told by an Idiot said: “In 1973 my father took me to the Selly Oak Odeon in B'ham to see Richard Lesters movie 'The Three Musketeers'. It left a big impression on me, and I am delighted that 53 years later Told by an Idiot will reinvent this classic tale at the RST this Christmas. This raucously funny, romantic adventure yarn has something for everyone, and over the festive period we look forward to entertaining families in the style that only live theatre can do. ‘One for all, and all for one!’“

Told by an Idiot is a critically acclaimed UK theatre company that explores the human condition through theatre that is ambitious but never pretentious, experimental but always accessible. They avoid boredom at all costs and are fascinated by the space between laughter and pain. Their work is rooted in the live event and thrives on a sense of spontaneity and risk, celebrating the unpredictability of performance. Through anarchic physicality and a comedic sensibility they create genuinely spontaneous experiences for audiences.